That time Charlie Daniels came to Beaumont

Updated 6:17 pm, Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Charlie Daniels rides at a gallop around the interior of the Beaumont Civic Center at the premier of the Slim Jim Stampede. The Enterprise file photo.

Charlie Daniels rides at a gallop around the interior of the Beaumont Civic Center at the premier of the Slim Jim Stampede. The Enterprise file photo.

Photo: The Enterprise

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A woman works on costumes for the Slim Jim Stampede. The Enterprise file photo.

A woman works on costumes for the Slim Jim Stampede. The Enterprise file photo.

Photo: The Enterprise

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Trick riders gallop past the Charlie Daniels Band as it performs at the Beaumont Civic Center in April 1987. The Enterprise file photo.

Trick riders gallop past the Charlie Daniels Band as it performs at the Beaumont Civic Center in April 1987. The Enterprise file photo.

Photo: The Enterprise

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A cavalry horse rider and his horse bite the dust in a rehearsal for the Slim Jim Stampede at the Beaumont Civic Center in April 1987. The Enterprise file photo.

A cavalry horse rider and his horse bite the dust in a rehearsal for the Slim Jim Stampede at the Beaumont Civic Center in April 1987. The Enterprise file photo.

Photo: The Enterprise

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A performer dressed as an Indian shows off his horse's dancing abilities at the Slim Jim Stampede in Beaumont in April 1987. The Enterprise file photo.

A performer dressed as an Indian shows off his horse's dancing abilities at the Slim Jim Stampede in Beaumont in April 1987. The Enterprise file photo.

Photo: The Enterprise

That time Charlie Daniels came to Beaumont

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SOUTHEAST TEXAS TALES

It was a show like no one had ever seen.

A musical Western extravaganza of stampeding horses, stagecoaches, cowboys, saloon fights, trick ropers, Native American dancers and Texas long-horned steers wowed the sold-out crowds at the Beaumont Civic Center in April 1987.

This wasn't just any traveling rodeo-type show, but the world premiere of the Slim Jim Stampede starring the Charlie Daniels band.

The fun-loving, patriotic entertainment show was launched right here in Beaumont, a "prized jewel" location for concerts and shows, said Tad Griffith, the writer, director and producer of the Slim Jim Stampede.

"Everybody stops there between Houston and New Orleans," he said. "Beaumont was our test market."

Griffith said the civic center was "an exceptional little place" to do the show because the audience was "right on top of us and the action."

Not to mention, the market was full of Charlie Daniels fans, Griffith said.

It was also the first time in the history of the civic center that audience members left after a show and immediately went to stand in line to get tickets to the next one, he said.

The high-energy show was scheduled to play 30 to 40 cities after leaving Beaumont. It didn't happen. The Slim Jim Stampede was never seen again.

David Corley, who was Daniels' tour manager at the time, said the crew left Beaumont "with high expectations and were very excited about what had happened."

"It was very, very dear to Charlie's heart," Corley said.

But the expensive show needed more financial backing than they could drum up.

"We had whiskey taste on a beer budget," Corley joked.

Daniels went on to a very successful music career with Corley as his personal manager, and Griffith went to Hollywood to make music and movies.

The Enterprise's coverage of the event said it "went beyond being a hit" and "was a great two hours of entertainment for people of all ages and from all walks of life."

Because it was new, the performance had its less successful moments:

"Some of the horses didn't move on cue, the lighting was confused at times and the buffalo needed a tad more work on his act. During the solemn tribute to the American buffalo, the narrator talked of how the great beast was almost destroyed from the Great Plains. In the meantime, a live buffalo, which had been brought to one end of the arena, first sat then laid down for an opportunity to scratch his back on the fresh sand."

"With Charlie coming off the stage in the arena and getting on a horse - maybe it was the involvement of animals - because the moment you introduce buffaloes and bison and longhorn and a bucking horse, it brings it to a new level. It was a very positive experience."

But without funding and without a proof-positive marketing plan, the show was never able to get back in the saddle.

"Everyone knew it was the most fantastic show they'd ever seen, but no one knew how to market it at the time," Griffith said. "It was a new concept and such a bold step outside the box."

Now, Griffith said, announcing such a show would be as simple as posting it to Facebook, where Daniels' fans would know immediately.

And that's not just wishful thinking.

Corley said he and Griffith have spoken over the years and crunched the numbers for mounting the show up again for livestock shows, but they'd still need someone to believe in the project.

"I can't say that we wouldn't do it again someday, but it would entail a big sponsorship and the interest and intrigue of the cowboy comes and goes," Corley said. "It would take a sponsor of a like mind."

Griffith said the nice thing is that this type of performance hasn't been done since 1987, when the Slim Jim Stampede graced the stage in Beaumont in its one and only stop.

"We didn't do it wrong so we always have the chance to do it again," he said. "We could even kick it off again in Beaumont, since that's where it was born."

Corley said that even though Daniels is 77, he's still putting on shows and is certainly capable of doing the stampede again.